Everybody's All-American

Rating:
Summary: A study of the superstar athlete
Review: If you read this book, you'll better understand why athletes are revered in our culture. You'll better understand why some hang on to their careers well past their prime, and why some can never accomplish anything that matches their on-field glory.

The book's funny, too, as well as touching and poignant. It's a really good read. One of my favorites--and one I think of every time I see an athlete that can't leave the game.

Rating:
Summary: The best novel ever written about college football.
Review: This is a novel that I read every other year or so just before the start of the college football season. It is a story of a mythical player at North Carolina in the late 50's that is "everybody's all-american" and the impact that the game has on his life as well as those around him. It is written with wit and style from the perspective of a character that is our hero's adoring nephew. There are some great comparisons drawn between our hero and another young hero of an earlier time, J.E.B. Stewart, and the impact that their greatness had on their lives. The author also shows a social conscience in his treatment of the subject of race relations in the 50's American South. Deford is a superb writer and if you love college football this is a must read.